Naveen displeased over Center

Bhubaneswar: Raising concern over the Central fund approved for Odisha under BRGF, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday criticised strongly terming it as another instance of central ‘negligence’ towards the State.

“It is most unfortunate that Central government is discriminating against Odisha on political considerations. This is a clear case of negligence to our State once again” Naveen said.

On the other hand, the State Congress reacted sharply to the statement of CM quoting saying BJD is habituated to blame centre.

“No other states have got the amount what has been given to Odisha during previous years. Blaming Central government has become a habit of BJD government” Union minister and Congress leader Srikant Jena said.

Similarly, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) President Niranjan Patnaik said it is State government’s inefficiency that Bihar is drawing much funds from the Center while Odisha failed.

Sources said the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Thursday approved allocation of funds of Rs 250 cr per annum for the Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput (KBK) region of Odisha under the Backward Region Grant Fund (BRGF) in 12th five year plan, while amount given to Bihar is far ahead from Odisha. The CCEA approved the allocation of enhanced funds for Bihar of Rs 12,000 crore as a special plan under the BRGF.